DESCRIPTION: (adapted from the application): The Program Development Core has a single aim: to enhance research opportunities in the demography of health and aging. In pursuit of this goal a junior faculty-research position will be established within the Population Aging Center and new and innovative research will be promoted by providing support for exploratory research in the form of pilot projects. UC is committed to developing an outstanding Population Aging Research Center. Although the current roster of researchers in aging is strong, there is a need to bring in new investigators and offer them the opportunity to develop their own research agendas. This Center hope s to contribute to the training of the next generation of leaders in the field. It is believed that a position primarily devoted to research but associated with a disciplinary department will give a more junior researcher sufficient time to pursue his or her own research and establish a strong career trajectory. Therefore, the position envisioned is one of Associate in the Population Research Center at a salary and status equivalent to Assistant Professor. The position would carry with it an appointment in a disciplinary department and the responsibility to teach one course a year. It would also offer opportunities for collaboration with Center researchers on a wide range of projects. The preference is for someone whose work either is already in health and aging or who can shift emphasis from a related area into this kind of work. Preference will be given to someone who has experience beyond the Ph.D. and who has worked in a developing country setting. Because the current Associates have close research ties to Asia, the first choice will be for an African specialist. Ties are already in place with institutions in Asia (International Institute for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (Drs. Rahman and Menken); University of Indonesia (Drs. Frankenberg and Thomas)) and with agencies in the former Soviet Union (Dr. Becker). An Associate would be welcomed who already has collaborative ties in Africa or who would be eager to develop them through invitations we have received from various institutions in sub-Saharan Africa. To establish this faculty research position, the University of Colorado will contribute 25% of the academic year salary throughout the five years of this grant. The occupant of this new position will have an appointment in one of the departments associated with PPP and the Population Aging Center, most likely either Sociology or Geography, and will teach one course a year. Letters of commitment to this position from the Dean of the Graduate School and the Chairs of the Departments of Sociology and Geography are included in the Appendix to this proposal. The pilot projects are intended to support the development of new research initiatives and RO1 grant applications related to the basic scientific themes of PAC, e.g. aging and health of disadvantaged populations both within and outside the U.S. and migration and distribution and how they affect the social and economic position of the aging. Projects will be selected through a competitive review procedure modeled after the procedures established for such internal awards at the University of Pennsylvania.